“ 91..92…93” T.U.I’s voice echoed through the training hall as he pushed himself further and further. Sweat dripped to the floor as he once again pushed himself to finish the set. Arms burning he reached 97 before collapsing.
“ Come on Kelford, just a few more” Kelford pushed back up, hitting the last few before collapsing with a groan.
“That’s 100 “ Kelford groaned, rolling to his back as he caught his breath.
“ A very good job, only a week ago you weren’t even able to make it to 70!” T.U.I’s said, floating above him. Immediately a timer of 10 minutes leaving him to rest for a few minutes. Kelford brought up his interface.
User: Kelford Booker
Class: N/A
Class Slots: 1
Skills: [ Languages of the Mountain]
Spells: None
Relics: None
Karma: 0
Inventory: 1/10
It wasn’t much to look at but he still was excited to see his new skill. Since his absorption of the skill, Kelford had yet to go back to the Tower. Instead forcing himself through the brutal training regime T.U.I had come up with. Spending most of his days running, jumping, and lifting to push his body to it’s limit. The relic Languages of the Mountain was also useful aside from just granting him a skill, going into detail about the importance of different phrases and inflections. It turned out that there were several species that had made the world of Dowor home. There were giants, trolls, and gnoblars. In the book it referred to them as ogre spawn which gave Kelford a bit of a sinking feeling. The description of the gnoblars seemed to point to their current forms being a larva stage for something bigger. Which according to the book were ogres. The ogres focused primarily upon eating, which would explain why they had at least 20 different phrases for how hungry they were.Starving, slightly starving, starving for strength or status, the list kept going on. The skill would have let him understand the literal translation of their words, but the book would allow him to understand the subtext. He had considered not taking this extra step but he hadn’t wanted to skip corners. So between hours of breaking his body down, he was forced to parse through the complicated double meanings of several alien languages.
A ringing startled Kelford out of his musings,the timer T.U.I was keeping had reached zero. With another groan Kelford pulled himself to his feet and started running. This would be his last day before his self imposed deadline. Tomorrow he was going back to challenge the floors.
“ T.U.I”
“Yes Kelford” T.U.I floated right beside him, easily keeping pace. Kelford tried and failed to keep his eyes from rolling. Lucky ball of light.
“ Do you think my training is going to pay off?” He passed the point he had started and kept himself going with long smooth strides.
“ I believe that this training will increase your performance within the Tower floors by a high margin. “ T.U.I replied.
“ Well…what do you mean by high margin?”
“ I mean that you will most definitely push past the second floor if you continue to show this type of commitment to progressing along the Tower floors.
Kelford fell silent as he considered her words, passing the mark again. “ How many others have pushed past the second floor by now?”
“ Approximately 30% of participants have passed the 2nd floor. 40% have just attempted the 1st floor in the last week. “
“ That many huh?” Kelford continued to run, passing the marker 3 more times as he process the information. With a gasp he came to a stop. That was it for the day. His mouth was filled with the taste of blood but his mind was still on the numbers T.U.I had told him.
“ Millions of people are ahead of me”
T.U.I came to a stop next to him, “ that is correct Kelford, a few thousand have actually reached the 5th floor already”
“ Wow,” Kelford said, trying to imagine reaching that point so soon, “ What kind of people would have gotten there so soon?”
“ Mostly those your planet has already trained in your armies, have combat experience, or a monstrous talent”
Kelford could only sigh as he walked to the floor. So many people were already ahead of him.It made sense that soldiers or combat artists would do very well, but what did T.U.I mean by monstrous talent? Kelford made his way to the shower still thinking about the concept. He looked over at his flying companion and almost as if she was reading his mind she began to explain.
“ As you are in an essence deprived system many of your hidden talents are not developed. For some the arrival of essence is an unlocking of their hidden potential. Those with such a large degree of talent that it allows them to grow at unprecedented speed even in a universal standard are considered monstrous. The term is used so frequently that the Myriad Index has logged the term under universal slang. ”
Kelford nodded before preparing himself for sleep. He wasn’t competing with those 30%, just himself. He just needed to get to the third floor and pass the gnoblar gorger. He didn’t need to think about anything aside from the next floor. He’d practiced for a week, it should give him just enough of an edge to win. He was more intune with his enhanced body, felt his limits more keenly. As he fell asleep in his bed the thoughts of his potential failure still followed him.
The Heavy Warrior class was now represented by a mace, its head flanged and pure steel. Its grip was just big enough to use two hands or one. With the power of the class flowing into him, it was just the right weight.
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User: Kelford Booker
Class: Heavy Warrior
Class Slots: 0
Skills: [Language of the Mountain]
[Enhanced Strength]
[General Melee Weapon Proficiency]
[Heavy Armor Proficiency]
[Hard Smash]
Spells: None
Relics: None
Karma: 0
Inventory: 1/10
Hard Slash had transformed into Hard Smash but from the intrinsic understanding he had of the class skills he gained, he figured it shouldn't matter. The doors began to open and Kelford was already pushing past them. The feeling of fear was barely an afterthought as he walked through the passage. Dark stone that had frightened him the first two times was now semi-familiar. The flicker of fire light revealed the gnoblar that was sitting there as bait. Kelford stopped a few feet from the entrance and noted each of the gnoblars hiding in the darkness. He weighed his options. Kill them all or test his new skill. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe the Tower would short change him, but more that he wasn’t sure it was worth the effort. None of the gnoblars so far had shown any inclination towards talking aside from the one a few rooms from here.
“To be fair, I haven’t really given them the chance” Kelford nodded to himself before walking into the light. His mace was lowered and hand up in a placating motion.
“ Hey I’m just here to say…oh come on! “ Keldford’s speech was interrupted immediately as the gnoblar threw itself at him screaming. Kelford danced backward before his mace took it on the jaw. It collapsed like a bag of potatoes but Kelford didn’t stop moving. With the backswing the gnoblar behind him was smashed to the ground. The others came on, ambush thwarted, knives pointed at the human in their midst. Swinging wildly, Kelford fended them off.Utilizing his superior range to prevent any of them from getting ideas. Took a step back as if to rest before charging with a burst of speed. The gnoblars fell for the obvious trick, one even tripping as the warrior fell into their midst. In only a few moments the gnoblars died, leaving Kelford standing along with minor scratches.
“ Not bad, not bad at all” Kelford said as he made his to the forming Relic Orb.
“ Yes, by spending time with my training regime you have not only shown minor improvements to your physique but grown use to your enhanced capabilities as well” T.U.I’s voice rang in his mind as Kelford smiled to himself. Part of his training was practicing with his chosen class. Surprisingly, his mind hadn’t fully comprehended the magnitude of strength when he rushed into the Tower. Now, after testing for a week he was able to demonstrate a greater awareness of his class improvements. The Relic Orb shown and his option open before him.
Shield of Steadiness
Common
Description: You find it slightly harder to be knocked from your feet
Spear of Spirit Strikes
Uncommon
Description: Every strike is followed by an after image dealing weak spirit damage.
The effect ends after every 5th strike leading to a 10 minute cooldown.
Cape of Presence
Common
Description: The power of every fear effect is doubled for 10 seconds
The effect can only be used once per hour
His first instinct was to choose the spear but he held off as he considered the other options. The shield would definitely assist with protecting himself while the cape he could see being useful in another context. The spear seemed to be the most powerful option but he hesitated.
“ I’m just not sure if that is the right option.” It reminded him of his previous sword, where the effect was powerful but it had a very fixed purpose. It didn’t assist with him surviving aside from it’s ability to kill things quickly, and even though it’s effect was in some way much stronger then his last relic it had a cooldown. That line of reasoning was leading to an important concept but Kelford couldn’t quite put his finger on it. Regardless, he couldn’t find any reason not to pick the Spear of Spirit Strikes. He placed his mace in his Inventory and grabbed the materializing spear. It’s haft was light brown, with a long flat blade. It was almost 6 feet tall and was pretty cramped in the confines of the small cave. Too late for buyers' remorse, Kelford started to make his way to the second floor.
First Floor Complete
He jogged, spear in hand as he prepared himself for the next fight. Blood beating in his ears he continued forward. As he turned the bend and saw the next room he broke into a jog. “The Gnoblar Hurler is on the right, kill it quickly and turn on the others” Kelford took a deep breathe as his thoughts organized the plan. He burst past the entrance already pivoting to stab the surprised slinger. His blade took it in the chest, smashing it against the wall. It whined pitfully before a ghostly speartip came from the aether stabbing it in the neck. No physical wound was evident but the gnoblars' whines immediately fell silent. The others were already screaming, pulling out knives and awakening their sleeping friends.Kelford twisted , tossing the body towards the group by the fire. The gnoblars screamed as they collided, falling into a heap before Kelford’s spear found them. Ghostly spear tips followed steel stealing their lives . The last few had finally woken up only to be left in shock as Kelford slammed them the spear butt. With so much distance between them there was no way for the gnoblars to close the distance and so Kelford bullied them into submission. The ghostly spears had failed to appear in the end, a timer counting down from 10 appearing in the edge of Kelford’s vision.
“Well that was…surprisingly easy” Kelford pulled the spear from the last of the gnoblars before checking himself over. “ did I really not take any damage that entire fight?”
“ It would seem so” T.U.I said, “ Congratulations Kelford it seems that your dedication to improvement has born more results”
“ Well, we’ll see about that. Now comes the hard part. How am I going to pass the next room?” Kelford sat slightly away from the bodies, catching his breath.
“ Well I can not provide specific tactics I can say that you should consider what held you back the previous attempt? Perhaps a consideration of how you should approach the room or how your class factors into your plans.” T.U.I’s voice was amicable but the last sentence caught his attention.
“ Consider my class?”
“ Oh yes,” T.U.I said, “ Some classes lend themselves to different strategies and ways of thinking.”
“Right,” Kelford leaned back, considering her words. Of course some classes lent themselves to different strategies. You wouldn’t expect a mage to fight up close when their spells could fire from range. How did that apply to this situation? He was a Heavy Warrior so he should be getting up and personal, which he was doing. That didn’t entirely help him with the next room, his previous run had almost killed him with the sheer numbers of the gnoblars. Kelfords eyes widened. That was only true if they attacked him all at once. When they spread out to hunt ,Kelford could take down the smaller hunting parties. The only question was how would he do that? He just had to split them up.
“Instead of aiming to sneak past all of them, I should break their morale. Cause a frenzy and then kill their leader. With them in disarray I can get to the next floor.” Kelford stood up with excitement. With barely any wounds on him this time around he should be able to pull it off. He grinned as he stalked forward to the next room.
“Thanks T.U.I , I wouldn’t have been able to figure this out without you”
“Of course Kelford” T.U.I’s said, “ I’m glad to be of assistance”